Hi, all!
I’m Barbara Illowsky. I am co-author of one of the very first OER texts in the U.S. The text is now called “Elementary Statistics” and is published by OpenStax. I retired from my faculty position almost two years ago. I then spent a year working for Michelson 20MM Foundation, advocating for OER funding and adoption.
It’s fun to be back working with OER colleagues.
Hello, Barbara! Great to hear from you on here! It’s such a great group of people I almost want to pitch a new book just to get you all in on it!
Hi, Everyone! I’m Sue Kunda, and I’m the Scholarly Communications and Social Science Librarian at Western Oregon University, which is a medium-sized liberal arts public university. I began my “open” travels with Open Access at a larger research institution but moved into OER when I moved to Western. I’m the statewide OER point person for our institution and oversee our OER stipend program. I’m looking forward to working with everyone in this group because I’ve got so much to learn!
Hi all! I’m Susan Vandagriff, and I’m the Scholarly Communications Librarian for University of Colorado Colorado Springs. I serve as our library’s primary contact for OER issues, and provide support to our university’s OER Success Program that is run by our Faculty Resource Center. My main role is to help faculty with finding OER and answering CC licensing questions. Our OER program is growing, so I’m excited to read this book and learn from all of the contributors!
Hi all! I’m YiPing Wang, the Media & Instruction Librarian at Laney College, Peralta Community College District, California, and the ASCCC OERI Liaison. I started introducing OER in 2017, mainly advocating OER, providing workshops, and assisting faculty to create/find OERs. The OER committee is recently formed and this will be something new to work on.
I just wanted to say thanks for allowing me to participate in the review process. I really enjoyed it and learned some new resources to use in the future.
Thank you!
Pam
Thank you, Pam! I’m glad you enjoyed the process. This was definitely the biggest peer review project I’ve ever managed, but the feedback has been wonderful. Best of luck in your own work!
Hi gang! My name is Vince Mussehl and I am the Library Director and Open RN Librarian for Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Over the past few years my institution has made some impressive strides in advancing the open agenda which includes adding faculty stipends, developing a rigorous OER training program, and creating open textbooks that have been adopted nationwide. I’m thankful for the opportunity to serve as a reviewer and I’m finding the content extremely interesting. Kudos to the authors, contributors, etc. for this project - very exciting!
Thank you Vince! We’re glad to have you aboard as one of our reviewers! I’m sure your comments will be useful as we approach the monumental editing and final production work ahead!
Hello All, I am Kevin Flash, Dean of Learning Resources at Sacramento City College. I have been actively working on OER for the past three years as part of the grant which UC Davis received from the Department of Education. Our work at the college has involved building an infrastructure that engages and supports faculty as they move from traditional textbooks to OER for their classes. I feel so fortunate to be apart of this group.
Hi all, I’m Judith Thomas, Director of Faculty Programs at the University of Virginia Library, where I oversee our fairly new OER program. We focused on scoping and educating (ourselves and others) during our first year and are now turning our attention to adapting and authoring OER. I’m also a member of the Open and Affordable Course Content Committee of our statewide library consortium, VIVA, which has a very active OER program.
Hello all! I’m Mélanie Brunet, Copyright Services Librarian at the University of Ottawa (in Ontario, Canada). While OER and open education are not officially in my job description, I’m the co-lead at my library for OER activities. I just completed the SPARC Open Education Leadership Program. Things are really picking up at my university and I’m increasingly invited to speak about the state of OER to various committees on campus. I’ve been offering a series of webinars related to OER since August 2020 through our teaching and learning center and have coordinated the first two rounds of the Library OER Grant. I’m a bit last-minute with my review but thank you for the opportunity to participate in this process!
Welcome aboard, Mélanie! I’m pleased to hear that you’re getting more opportunities to speak about OER at your university, and I’m sure that the SPARC program has set you up well to advocate for it. We’ve found it so helpful to hear from all kinds of practitioners so far, and your input will be a welcome addition (and not last-minute by any means)!
I’m jumping in post review to introduce myself. Hi all, I’m Christina Riehman-Murphy and I’m a reference & instruction librarian at the Penn State Abington campus. I am a co-program manager of a small adoption grant at my campus and could absolutely relate to the chapter I reviewed! Can’t wait to see this published - such a useful and practical resource. Congrats to all of the authors.
It’s great to see you here, Christina!
I’m Joey Merritt and I am the OER Librarian for Merced College in California’s Central Valley. I also serve as the liaison for Merced College to the Academic Senate (California Community Colleges). I’m excited to be part of this project, although I’m a tad late in the process.
Hi my name is Ceit (pronounced Kate) De Vitto from Bunker Hilll Community College. I am the OER Coordinator for Bunker Hill Community College. I am very interested in participating in this review. I use the OER Starter kit in the PD projects that I create. I am so excited at the concept of one for Managers.
Hi Ceit! We’ve just wrapped up our peer review process, but are looking for copy editors if you were interested in participating as one — see the Call for Copy Editors: OER Starter Kit for Program Managers. @aelder’s OER Starter Kit has been a holy grail for many already, and we hope this book for program managers can be just as useful! 
Thank you! Ye, I just filled out the form
Great, thank you! We’ll take a look at all the interested collaborators and get back to you soon.